How my application received 455 thousand users in the first week
In my free time I like working on cool little projects that somehow help me or someone else. I started with a simple idea - a calculator of time spent on TV shows, which became a hit.
After one week after the release of the application, it scored 455826 unique visitors, 522091 visits and 688280 page views.
Statistics Tiii.me for the first week. Thursday April 3rd was crazy
')
At peak hours there were 1600+ active users and about 250 tweets per application. After a recession, about 10 tweets per hour.
About 1600 active visitors
I used the Trakt API for getting serials and because there were too many API requests, their servers crashed several times (sorry guys). GitHub, where this application is hosted , endured such stress without problems - it never fell. Taking off my hat.
The app lit up in Business Insider , BuzzFeed , Fast Company , Washington Post , The Daily Dot , Metro , iO9 , Italy , Wired Italy , The Mary Sue , Papel Pop , on the main page of Digg , Reddit and on many sites.
Tiii.me on the main digg
First, I painted and wrote the application. As soon as I received a valid product, I conducted user testing in order to see how people use the application and, after, returned to finalizing the application. After I had a finished product, I focused on marketing - presentations are just as important as the product itself.
I was looking for influential bloggers who have written articles about TV shows in the past. I sent them an email, where I explained who I was, and asked them to look at the application I made, and if they like, they could write about it.
Another 500 words document was attached to the letter, which was written by me, in which I told the application features, how I came up with this idea, how many days it took me to develop the application and a few words about me. I wrote this document to make it easier for bloggers to write articles about the application. I sent such a letter to twenty bloggers and I had a strong expectation that the application would become very popular.
Many bloggers have responded to me that they will write about the application. So, I asked them to post articles on pre-release days. I wrote a buzz that the release of the cool app is coming soon, and on Thursday - the best day for the release - I opened public access to the app. I also sent it to several sites (Reddit, HackerNews, DesignerNews) and to several forums.
Wow Such traffic! How many tweets! Very fashionable!
Doge happy
In fact, this was happening in a parallel universe. Because in the one in which you are reading this post, something else happened.
I drew and wrote the application, launched on GitHub (public release on Friday). Then I posted a screenshot on Dribbble and tweeted once. It's all.
The effect of the snowball that followed further was pure luck!
I have no idea what I'm doing. Or I have ...
However, I have a few ideas why the application has become so popular.
The application is called Tiii.me and it is a calculator of your time spent. You can count how much time you spent watching movies, TV shows, surfing, chatting, talking on the phone and so on. All this fits the “time spent” category. But you can not. You can only calculate how much time you spent watching TV shows. It's all.
By making the application specific, you know who your audience is and how to please them. You can highlight their needs, plans and dreams. If you managed to meet their expectations - you are successful.
You can succeed not only by making the application viral, but also by generating revenue. People will be happy to pay for your application, which solves their problems and makes life easier.
Although, do not make it too niche. The product may be better, but the number of users will be much less. For Tiii.me, I could make it more niche if I could only leave the series in the genre of comedies, and remove the rest. But it would be ignoring a large part of the audience, which watches not only comedy series. You need to find a balance point between too narrow and too wide an audience.
Don't be discouraged if your “original” idea was used by someone else. This does not mean that it was done well. Take something and make it better.
Design is important. Make your application intuitive and easy to use and you will win. But to make it intuitive, you need to explore your potential users and understand them. Ask questions, watch how they work, listen to what they need and adjust the result.
Also, constantly remember that people themselves do not always know what they want. Here you can improvise and give users a taste of their individuality. Is it true that people want a big iPod Touch? Not. But Apple still did this. And it turned out to be very successful, a new profitable market was formed - tablets (only in 2013, 195 million tablets were sold - source ).
Throw away all unnecessary. Leave only the necessary elements necessary to obtain this uniqueness.
Is it true that users need to create an account and login? Of course, it would be great if you could create an account and have your profile on Tiii.me with a list of all the TV shows that you watched. Is it necessary? Not.
Do I really need to see your logo when I use your app? No (I hear the cries of marketers). Do you really need a menu? Tutorial for adaptation? Footer? Take a look at the most "fundamental" elements of the application. What does not improve the UX should be thrown away.
Make the app so simple (UI & UX) and intuitive to make it look like there is no design at all. Literally. Make your design "invisible."
Do not neglect this step. It is very important when creating a popular application. Help users talk about your application. They will love him and will want to tell others about him. Make it easy. Take the time to develop a convenient sharing. Do not connect just a plugin with social buttons.
Imagine what your friend tells you about this new application. What would you like him to tell you in order to intrigue you?
For Tiii.me, I only selected Twitter and set up a tweet like this:
If I saw it in my feed, I would be interested, and I would check the link.
I made one small change in tweet, replacing “spent” with “wasted”. I think wasted is a stronger word and attracts more attention.
In fact, I drew a lot of attention with such a choice of words, I think it was worth it. More than 19308 people tweeted.
Most of all in this experience I liked not the massive press coverage and not a lot of tweets. Most of all I liked the fact that people use my application and interact with the interface that I created. And probably they love him. The application did not sink into the sea of ​​mediocrity, hidden in a dark corner of the Internet ...
Thanks to everyone who shared and told others about Tiii.me.
I wrote this post to express my gratitude and give you some tips that can help you create an application that will become viral.
You need faith, and the rest happens by itself. Tiii.me is living proof of this!
Statistics
After one week after the release of the application, it scored 455826 unique visitors, 522091 visits and 688280 page views.
Statistics Tiii.me for the first week. Thursday April 3rd was crazy
')
At peak hours there were 1600+ active users and about 250 tweets per application. After a recession, about 10 tweets per hour.
About 1600 active visitors
I used the Trakt API for getting serials and because there were too many API requests, their servers crashed several times (sorry guys). GitHub, where this application is hosted , endured such stress without problems - it never fell. Taking off my hat.
The app lit up in Business Insider , BuzzFeed , Fast Company , Washington Post , The Daily Dot , Metro , iO9 , Italy , Wired Italy , The Mary Sue , Papel Pop , on the main page of Digg , Reddit and on many sites.
Tiii.me on the main digg
How i did it
First, I painted and wrote the application. As soon as I received a valid product, I conducted user testing in order to see how people use the application and, after, returned to finalizing the application. After I had a finished product, I focused on marketing - presentations are just as important as the product itself.
I was looking for influential bloggers who have written articles about TV shows in the past. I sent them an email, where I explained who I was, and asked them to look at the application I made, and if they like, they could write about it.
Another 500 words document was attached to the letter, which was written by me, in which I told the application features, how I came up with this idea, how many days it took me to develop the application and a few words about me. I wrote this document to make it easier for bloggers to write articles about the application. I sent such a letter to twenty bloggers and I had a strong expectation that the application would become very popular.
Many bloggers have responded to me that they will write about the application. So, I asked them to post articles on pre-release days. I wrote a buzz that the release of the cool app is coming soon, and on Thursday - the best day for the release - I opened public access to the app. I also sent it to several sites (Reddit, HackerNews, DesignerNews) and to several forums.
Wow Such traffic! How many tweets! Very fashionable!
Doge happy
In fact, this was happening in a parallel universe. Because in the one in which you are reading this post, something else happened.
How I really did it
I drew and wrote the application, launched on GitHub (public release on Friday). Then I posted a screenshot on Dribbble and tweeted once. It's all.
The effect of the snowball that followed further was pure luck!
I have no idea what I'm doing. Or I have ...
However, I have a few ideas why the application has become so popular.
1. Make the product niche
The application is called Tiii.me and it is a calculator of your time spent. You can count how much time you spent watching movies, TV shows, surfing, chatting, talking on the phone and so on. All this fits the “time spent” category. But you can not. You can only calculate how much time you spent watching TV shows. It's all.
By making the application specific, you know who your audience is and how to please them. You can highlight their needs, plans and dreams. If you managed to meet their expectations - you are successful.
You can succeed not only by making the application viral, but also by generating revenue. People will be happy to pay for your application, which solves their problems and makes life easier.
Although, do not make it too niche. The product may be better, but the number of users will be much less. For Tiii.me, I could make it more niche if I could only leave the series in the genre of comedies, and remove the rest. But it would be ignoring a large part of the audience, which watches not only comedy series. You need to find a balance point between too narrow and too wide an audience.
2. Make it unique
“Nothing new under the sun.” - Ecclesiastes 1: 9
Don't be discouraged if your “original” idea was used by someone else. This does not mean that it was done well. Take something and make it better.
“Everything is already done, a few things are done well” - Brian Reid
Design is important. Make your application intuitive and easy to use and you will win. But to make it intuitive, you need to explore your potential users and understand them. Ask questions, watch how they work, listen to what they need and adjust the result.
Also, constantly remember that people themselves do not always know what they want. Here you can improvise and give users a taste of their individuality. Is it true that people want a big iPod Touch? Not. But Apple still did this. And it turned out to be very successful, a new profitable market was formed - tablets (only in 2013, 195 million tablets were sold - source ).
3. Make it easy
Throw away all unnecessary. Leave only the necessary elements necessary to obtain this uniqueness.
Is it true that users need to create an account and login? Of course, it would be great if you could create an account and have your profile on Tiii.me with a list of all the TV shows that you watched. Is it necessary? Not.
Do I really need to see your logo when I use your app? No (I hear the cries of marketers). Do you really need a menu? Tutorial for adaptation? Footer? Take a look at the most "fundamental" elements of the application. What does not improve the UX should be thrown away.
Make the app so simple (UI & UX) and intuitive to make it look like there is no design at all. Literally. Make your design "invisible."
“Simplicity is the hardest thing in the world; this is the ultimate limit of experience and the last effort of a genius "- Leonardo da Vinci
4. Make it easy to share.
Do not neglect this step. It is very important when creating a popular application. Help users talk about your application. They will love him and will want to tell others about him. Make it easy. Take the time to develop a convenient sharing. Do not connect just a plugin with social buttons.
Imagine what your friend tells you about this new application. What would you like him to tell you in order to intrigue you?
For Tiii.me, I only selected Twitter and set up a tweet like this:
“X was minutes of life watching TV shows. Calculate your time: tiii.me »
If I saw it in my feed, I would be interested, and I would check the link.
I made one small change in tweet, replacing “spent” with “wasted”. I think wasted is a stronger word and attracts more attention.
In fact, I drew a lot of attention with such a choice of words, I think it was worth it. More than 19308 people tweeted.
Conclusion
Most of all in this experience I liked not the massive press coverage and not a lot of tweets. Most of all I liked the fact that people use my application and interact with the interface that I created. And probably they love him. The application did not sink into the sea of ​​mediocrity, hidden in a dark corner of the Internet ...
Thanks to everyone who shared and told others about Tiii.me.
I wrote this post to express my gratitude and give you some tips that can help you create an application that will become viral.
You need faith, and the rest happens by itself. Tiii.me is living proof of this!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/220091/
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